Pronoun Reference with *Den*, *Det* and *De* in Danish

In Brief

Use den to refer back to a singular common-gender noun, det for a singular neuter noun, and de for a plural noun: filmen — den, huset — det, børnene — de. As an object, plural de changes to dem. Danish also uses det without a noun antecedent for situations, statements, weather, time, and emphasis: Det regner and Det var Anna, der ringede.

Overview

Pronoun reference is the use of a short word to point back to something already mentioned. In Jeg så filmen. Den var god (“I saw the movie. It was good”), den is anaphoric: it gets its meaning from an earlier noun, filmen. A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. Danish makes a distinction that English usually hides inside the single pronoun “it”: the Danish pronoun reflects the noun’s grammatical gender.

At B2, the real challenge is not memorizing three forms. It is deciding what kind of reference is intended. Den, det, and de can replace concrete nouns, while det can also refer to a whole fact, question, or situation. In other sentences, det has no earlier referent at all: it simply fills the subject position in weather expressions or introduces information that comes later.

These choices matter in both speech and writing because they help listeners track what each sentence is about. English-speaking learners often overuse det as a direct equivalent of “it” or “that.” A better habit is to ask two questions: “Am I referring to a noun, or to a whole idea?” and, if it is a noun, “Is it an en word, an et word, or plural?”

How It Works

Referring back to a noun

Danish nouns have two grammatical genders in the singular. A common-gender noun normally takes en, while a neuter noun takes et. The same distinction determines whether the referring pronoun is den or det.

Earlier noun	Subject pronoun	Object pronoun	Approximate English meaning
en film / filmen	den	den	it
et hus / huset	det	det	it
bøger / bøgerne	de	dem	they / them

The antecedent is the earlier word or phrase that gives a pronoun its meaning. Its being definite or indefinite does not change the pronoun: both en film and filmen can later be represented by den.

• Jeg så en film. Den var spændende. — I saw a movie. It was exciting.
• Vi købte et bord. Det står i køkkenet. — We bought a table. It is in the kitchen.
• Hun fandt nøglerne. De lå under sofaen. — She found the keys. They were under the sofa.

The plural case distinction is essential. A subject performs or experiences what the verb expresses; an object is affected by the action. Use de as the subject but dem as the object:

• Bøgerne er nye. De kostede 500 kroner. — The books are new. They cost 500 kroner.
• Jeg købte bøgerne, men jeg har ikke læst dem endnu. — I bought the books, but I have not read them yet.

Singular den and det have the same form as subject and object, so no visible change occurs: Den er dyr (“It is expensive”) and Jeg køber den (“I am buying it”).

Things, people, and animals

For things, use grammatical gender rather than natural properties. A stol (“chair”) is an en word, so it becomes den; a vindue (“window”) is an et word, so it becomes det. Nothing about the physical object itself is masculine, feminine, or neuter.

When referring to an individual person, Danish normally uses a personal pronoun appropriate to that person, such as han, hun, or a gender-neutral pronoun accepted by that person, rather than mechanically following the noun’s grammatical gender. For example, after min søster, use hun, not den. Plural de is normal for both people and things: Børnene? De leger ude. With animals, den or det is common when sex or individuality is not relevant, while han or hun may be used for a known animal.

Det for a fact, statement, or situation

When the referent is not one noun but a whole event, claim, question, or general situation, Danish normally uses det. Here det often corresponds to English “it,” “that,” or “so.” It does not agree with a noun because no single noun controls it.

• Mødet er blevet aflyst. Det vidste jeg ikke. — The meeting has been canceled. I did not know that.
• Kommer Lea i morgen? Det tror jeg. — Is Lea coming tomorrow? I think so.
• Han sagde, at han ville hjælpe, men det gjorde han ikke. — He said he would help, but he did not do so.

In Det ved jeg ikke, det has been placed first as the topic. Danish main-clause word order then puts the finite verb—the verb carrying tense—second: det + ved + jeg + ikke. The English order “That I don’t know” is possible but marked; the Danish pattern is ordinary.

Dummy and anticipatory det

A dummy subject fills the grammatical subject position without naming a person or thing. Danish requires det in many impersonal expressions:

• Det regner. — It is raining.
• Det er koldt i dag. — It is cold today.
• Det er sent. — It is late.
• Hvordan går det? — How is it going?

An anticipatory subject points forward to content that appears later, often an infinitive (the basic verb form, usually with at) or a clause:

• Det er svært at forstå udtalen. — It is difficult to understand the pronunciation.
• Det er vigtigt, at alle kommer til tiden. — It is important that everyone arrives on time.

In these examples, the real content is at forstå udtalen or at alle kommer til tiden, but det lets Danish begin with a short, natural subject.

Do not confuse impersonal det with existential der. Use der to introduce the existence or presence of something: Der står en cykel udenfor (“There is a bicycle outside”) and Der er et problem (“There is a problem”). Use det for weather, time, evaluation, or an already identifiable situation: Det er et problem means “It/that is a problem.”

Identification with det er

Danish commonly uses fixed det to identify a person or thing, even when the noun that follows is common gender or plural:

• Hvem er det? Det er min nabo. — Who is it? It is my neighbor.
• Hvad er det? Det er en gave. — What is it? It is a present.
• Hvem er det? Det er mine forældre. — Who is it? It is my parents.

This presentational det does not agree with min nabo, en gave, or mine forældre. Once those people or things become the topic, normal reference returns: Det er mine forældre. De bor i Odense (“Those are my parents. They live in Odense”).

Cleft sentences: det er/var … der/som …

A cleft sentence splits one message into two parts in order to put one element in focus. Compare neutral Anna ringede (“Anna called”) with focused Det var Anna, der ringede (“It was Anna who called”). The basic pattern is:

det + er/var + focused element + relative clause

A relative clause is a group of words that identifies or adds information about a noun or focused element. When the focused element is the subject of the relative clause, der is standard:

• Det er Jonas, der laver maden. — It is Jonas who is cooking.
• Det var i går, at beskeden kom. — It was yesterday that the message arrived.

When the focused element is an object or belongs after a preposition, som may be used and is often omitted in everyday Danish:

• Det er den bog, (som) jeg leder efter. — That is the book I am looking for.
• Det var Maria, (som) jeg talte med. — It was Maria I spoke to.

The opening det remains singular and neuter regardless of what is highlighted: Det er børnene, der larmer (“It is the children who are making noise”).

Examples in Context

Danish	English	Note
Filmen? Den var god.	The movie? It was good.	Film is an en word.
Jeg har købt et kamera. Det var på tilbud.	I bought a camera. It was on sale.	Kamera is an et word.
Børnene? De leger ude.	The children? They are playing outside.	Plural subject de.
Hvor er billetterne? Jeg har lagt dem på bordet.	Where are the tickets? I put them on the table.	Plural object dem.
Jeg kan godt lide stolen, men den er for dyr.	I like the chair, but it is too expensive.	Common-gender noun stolen.
Vinduet er åbent. Kan du lukke det?	The window is open. Can you close it?	Neuter object det.
Toget er forsinket. Det er irriterende.	The train is delayed. That is annoying.	Det evaluates the whole situation.
Kommer hun med? Det ved jeg ikke.	Is she coming along? I do not know.	Det refers to the question.
De siger, at butikken lukker. Det håber jeg ikke.	They say the shop is closing. I hope not.	Det represents a complete claim.
Det sner, og det er meget koldt.	It is snowing, and it is very cold.	Two impersonal uses.
Det er rart at være hjemme igen.	It is nice to be home again.	Det anticipates an infinitive phrase.
Det er tydeligt, at hun har øvet sig.	It is clear that she has practiced.	Det anticipates a clause.
Det er min chef. Hun hedder Lise.	That is my boss. Her name is Lise.	Presentational det, then personal hun.
Det var Emil, der fandt fejlen.	It was Emil who found the error.	Subject-focused cleft.
Det er det, jeg mener.	That is what I mean.	The second det is the understood object of mener.

Common Mistakes

Using det for every English “it”

• Wrong: Jeg købte en lampe. Det står på bordet.
• Right: Jeg købte en lampe. Den står på bordet.
• Why: The pronoun refers directly to en lampe, a singular common-gender noun, so it must be den.

Forgetting dem in object position

• Wrong: Jeg så børnene, men jeg talte ikke med de.
• Right: Jeg så børnene, men jeg talte ikke med dem.
• Why: Plural de is a subject form. After the preposition med, the pronoun is an object and takes the form dem.

Referring to an individual person as den

• Wrong: Min søster kommer senere. Den arbejder længe.
• Right: Min søster kommer senere. Hun arbejder længe.
• Why: Although søster is an en word, reference to a known person normally uses a personal pronoun, not the inanimate noun-replacing den.

Making presentational det agree

• Wrong: De er mine venner when introducing people in response to Hvem er det?
• Right: Det er mine venner.
• Why: In an identifying det er construction, det is fixed. In a different context, De er mine venner can correctly mean “They are my friends,” where de refers back to already established people.

Confusing det er with der er

• Wrong: Det er mange mennesker på stationen for neutral “There are many people at the station.”
• Right: Der er mange mennesker på stationen.
• Why: Der er introduces existence or presence. Det er identifies or evaluates something already understood.

Using ordinary statement order after fronted det

• Wrong: Det jeg ved ikke.
• Right: Det ved jeg ikke.
• Why: Fronted det occupies the first position of a Danish main clause, so the finite verb ved comes before the subject jeg.

Usage Notes

In speech, den and det may be stressed to correct or contrast a choice: Jeg tager den can mean “I’ll take that one.” These forms therefore overlap with demonstratives—words used to point out “this” or “that.” Context and stress usually make the intended meaning clear. A simple unstressed pronoun tends to maintain an existing topic; a stressed form can select or contrast it.

English “that” does not map to one Danish word. If “that” stands for an earlier common-gender noun, use den; for a neuter noun, use det; for a whole statement, use det. If you are physically pointing something out, demonstrative patterns such as den her and det der may be more natural. Translate the reference, not the isolated English word.

Lowercase de means “they.” Capitalized De is the traditional formal “you,” with object form Dem. Formal De still occurs in some official, ceremonial, service, or deliberately respectful contexts, but everyday Danish overwhelmingly uses du, including in many situations where another European language might choose a formal pronoun. Capitalization therefore changes the interpretation: De kommer i morgen may mean formal “You are coming tomorrow,” while de kommer i morgen means “they are coming tomorrow.”

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Det, der and det, jeg …

Two useful patterns differ according to the missing role inside the following clause:

• Det, der bekymrer mig, er prisen. — What worries me is the price.
• Det, jeg ikke forstår, er prisen. — What I do not understand is the price.

In the first sentence, der functions as the subject of bekymrer. In the second, jeg is the subject, and det is understood as the object of forstår, so no relative word is required. This same object pattern appears in Det er det, jeg mener.

Reference can be grammatically possible but unclear

A pronoun must have an antecedent that the listener can identify. If two recent nouns have the same gender and number, den or det may be ambiguous:

• Jeg lagde bogen ved siden af tasken, men nu er den væk.

Both bogen and tasken are common gender, so den could refer to either. Good Danish often repeats the noun or restructures the sentence: … men nu er bogen væk. Pronoun agreement cannot solve a reference problem when both candidates have the same features.

Det can summarize a larger stretch of conversation

At advanced levels, det often works as a discourse pronoun: it gathers up not just one clause but an entire argument, plan, or shared situation. In Vi kan tage det på mødet (“We can discuss/deal with it at the meeting”), the exact content may come from several earlier sentences. This broad use is natural only when both speakers can recover the intended topic.

Cleft sentences also carry a pragmatic effect: they imply a contrast or correct an assumption. Det var ikke mig, der sendte mailen does more than report who sent it; it rejects the idea that the speaker did. Overusing clefts can make neutral information sound defensive or emphatic, so use a simple sentence when no contrast is intended.

Practice Tips

1. Learn gender with every noun. Record en stol — den and et vindue — det, not just stol and vindue. Add plural pairs such as bøgerne — de/dem.
2. Retell short texts with pronouns. After each sentence, replace one repeated noun with den, det, de, or dem. Then check whether the pronoun is a subject or object and whether its antecedent is still clear.
3. Sort examples by the job of det. While reading or listening, label each det as noun reference, whole-idea reference, dummy subject, anticipatory subject, identification, or cleft. This is more useful at B2 than translating every det as “it.”

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Personal Pronouns — review Danish subject and object forms before working with extended pronoun reference.